TWA Flight 800: Memorial unveiled 10 years after crash

Jun. 19, 2013

Written by

Staff and wire reports

SHIRLEY, N.Y. - The sentiment was expressed on a simple wreath with tiny roses, carnations and deep purple flowers. "Ralph," said the gold letters on the wreath's white ribbon. "TWA Flight 800."

Underneath was a greeting card with a handwritten message: "It was the best 747 in the fleet. To die with the best, at its best, was an honor. Mom and Douglas."

The simple memorial was placed in front of Ralph Kevorkian's name on a granite wall dedicated to the victims of TWA Flight 800. Kevorkian was the captain of the doomed flight that burst into a fireball and plunged into the Atlantic Ocean 10 years ago. Douglas is his son.

Kevorkian and the 229 other victims were remembered yesterday at the dedication of the final piece of a memorial to the victims and the rescuers who raced in vain to the crash site. Nine people from Westchester and five who had ties to the county were killed in the crash.

Under a picture-perfect blue sky, about 1,000 people gathered to grieve, again, and to reminisce.

"TWA was such a great family. We loved each other, and we helped each other out," said Witta Zimmermann, a flight attendant for 33 years at the now-defunct airline. Kevorkian "was my favorite pilot. He was always one of us."

"I was in Rome and woke up in the middle of the night and turned on CNN and saw that the plane was down. I watched TV and cried all night long - and I'm still crying," said Fusco, her voice cracking and her eyes hidden behind sunglasses. "I miss them terribly."

Despite the pain, she said, "I'm glad I'm here. It brings back the tragedy, but it also brings back good memories."

At a Long Island park that is the closest piece of land to where the jet exploded, the memorial was completed with the dedication of an abstract black granite sculpture called "The Light." The sculpture was designed by Henry Seaman, whose cousin died in the crash, and is the centerpiece of the TWA Flight 800 memorial at Smith Point County Park.

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Victims' families had placed wedding rings, teddy bears and other mementos in a sealed vault under the sculpture, along with the last unclaimed property from the crash. Gov. George Pataki was among those who placed a wreath in front of the sculpture as bagpipers played "Amazing Grace" and "God Bless America."

Only minutes after taking off from John F. Kennedy International Airport, TWA Flight 800 to Paris exploded, raining carnage on the Atlantic Ocean. Among those killed were 16 high school students from Montoursville, Pa., and five chaperones who were traveling as part of a French Club trip.

Initially, investigators were not sure if the calamity that killed all 230 people aboard on July 17, 1996, was caused by a bomb, a missile or mechanical failure. Following an exhaustive, four-year investigation, officials determined that TWA 800 was destroyed by a center fuel tank explosion - likely caused by a spark from a short-circuit in the Boeing 747's wiring that ignited the tank's volatile vapors.

Among those lost in the crash were Joe Lychner's wife and two daughters.

"I was afraid their memory would be lost, but now I know as long as I am alive they will continue to live in me," he said of his family.

Lychner, from Austin, Texas, remarried three years after the crash, and he took his wife, Brenda, and his two children to the memorial.

"I believe there is hope after a great loss," said Lyncher, who named his 6-year-old daughter Rachel Hope. "I found comfort in God and the grace he has given me to survive this loss. I prayed that he would take away my loneliness, and he did by giving me another family to love."